title: Isolation and culture of adult human microglia within mixed glial cultures for functional experimentation and high-content analysis.
abstract: Microglia are thought to be involved in diseases of the adult human brain as well as normal aging processes. While neonatal and rodent microglia are often used in studies investigating microglial function, there are important differences between rodent microglia and their adult human counterparts. Human brain tissue provides a unique and valuable tool for microglial cell and molecular biology. Routine protocols can now enable use of this culture method in many laboratories. Detailed protocols and advice for culture of human brain microglia are provided here. We demonstrate the protocol for culturing human adult microglia within a mixed glial culture and use a phagocytosis assay as an example of the functional studies possible with these cells as well as a high-content analysis method of quantification.
authors.affiliation: The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Amy M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Hannah M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lill
authors.forename: Richard L M
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Faull
authors.forename: Mike
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dragunow
mesh_terms: D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology; D002469:Cell Separation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D017628:Microglia / Q000166:cytology*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology*